A Chicken curry made for memories

bhavna on March 13, 2016

In my head weekends are all about eating Non-vegetarian food, especially on Sundays. I don’t know why but Sunday is the day when I am not too keen on vegetarian food; the day feels oddly incomplete without some meaty fare added to the mix.

It was my dad’s job to cook a non-vegetarian dish on Sundays. My mother was banished from the kitchen, and we would take over the tiny space, hovering around my father like small minions ready to do whatever to please him. The morning ritual included Papa and me going to the local butcher to buy meat for the shenanigans that we had to indulge in the afternoon. My brother clearly thought it was very uncool to go to the butchers and my mother felt it was an unladylike behavior and constantly admonished me for being such an unruly girl.

Now we all know that watching a Butcher do his job is not for the faint-hearted. But I had to show my father that his girl was very brave. So I would stand there in the midst of all the carnage and the smell, squirming in my shoes pretending to be unyielding and courageous. It made me feel very self-important being a part of this ritual with my dad, something we did together. We would come home and pretend that we were on TV, my father the chef and me and my brother the little helpers. We would arrange everything in small saucers and my brother pretended to be the camera operator, and I would be the host interviewing my father who indulged us much to my mother’s chagrin because of all the washing up she would have to do later.

Over the years I moved away from my home and can go to a butcher and buy any kind of meat without squirming, my father stopped cooking, and my brother lost all interest in becoming a cameraman, but the memories of that small kitchen have stayed etched in the recesses of my brain forever. And even now on a Sunday, when I feel the need to cook something from my childhood, something that brings back memories of weekends spent in the comforting home of my parents, I make this Chicken curry. Usually, when I make the curry, I make extra gravy which I freeze in zip-lock bags which always comes handy every time I want to revisit the past.

Recipe (Cooking time 60 minutes, serves 4)

For the Chicken

500 gms Chicken cut into pieces

One cup plain Yogurt

One tsp Turmeric powder

One tsp Garam masala powder

One tsp Red chili powder

Wash the chicken and pat dry, Marinate, the Chicken in the Yogurt and the spices and leave for at least 15 minutes. You can keep the marinated Chicken in a ziplock bag in the fridge for up to two days. Before cooking it ensure that the Chicken is at room temperature of the Yogurt will split.

For the Gravy (As mentioned earlier you can make this gravy and freeze it for up to two months, just increase the quantities of the ingredients mentioned below)